Rahimahullah

The greatest favor and blessing Allah has bestowed upon His slaves is that He has taught them لا إله إلا الله.

This is from the statement of Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah, Rahimahullah, he died in one ninety-eight.

So the point is now that this is how Allah makes a believer firm in this life.

That whenever doubts and misconceptions come, they don't, they don't affect him.

The most hidden thing.

How is it that God can be the most zahir but the most hidden? Sheikh Ramadan Bouti, Rahimahullah, a shaheed, he said something profound.

He said, "Where, where will you find Allah?" He said, "When I look with my eyes at the world, at the trees, the sun, the moon, and the universe, I will not find Him.

He's hidden.

So this assumes a lot of the names of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and affirm them.

And Ibn Al-Qayyim, Rahimahullah, he says, he says, one of the ways that you can establish the attributes of Allah Azza wa Jal is creation.

Like you can move from creation to establishing the attributes of Allah Azza wa Jal and who He is because if there's voluntary action, someone must intend it.

Like there were no humans, there was no earth, there was no sun, and then they came into being.

And then everything else that comes from that realization of justice and mercy and kindness and opposing falsehood follows from it.

But it all goes back to that first realization of there is a purpose, and that purpose is to know Allah Azzawajal and then worship Him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

And Ibn Al-Qayyim, Rahimahullah, and I will not be able to quote what he said here, but he said that the secret of abudiyya, you only can glean that and understand it from understanding the attributes of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

And you'll only be able to do this by knowing that Allah's creation.

We welcome you to the 40 Nawawi Hadith Collection Explained.

And I actually want to begin with Al-Imam Nawawi himself, Rahimahullah, the great Imam of Abu Zakariyah Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi rahmatullahi alayh.

He was born in the year 631 after the migration of the Prophet ﷺ, so roughly 800 years ago, during a very difficult period for the Muslim Ummah when it was being blitzed from multiple directions by the Tatar Mongols from one direction, by the Crusaders from another direction, And in 631, in a small town called Nawa, that's why he's known as Al-Nawawi from Nawa, which sits at about 80 kilometers away from the capital city of Syria, from the capital Damascus, there was born Yahya ibn Sharif, who became Al-Imam Al-Nawawi, may Allah bestow mercy upon him.

And this towering imam showed signs of prodigy, signs of being a luminary, being something uniquely special from very early on.